Gas-engine



3 'sheets-sheet 1.

(M Mmm C. W. BALDWI GAS ENGINE Patented July 23 Suunto@ lm/ww fg i m l l n n I l l l l 0 f n n l l I l I 1 l l l u 3 Sheets-Sheet 2'.

(No Model.)

C.. BALDWIN.

GAS ENGINE.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

C. W. BALDWIN.

GAS ENGINE.

No. 407,320. Patented July 23, 1889.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CYRUS BALDWIN, OF YONKERS, NElV YORK, ASSIGNOR TO'XVILLIAM E. HALE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

GAS-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 407,320, dated July 23, 1889. Application filed July 23, 1888. Serial No. 280,735. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, CYRUs W. BALDWIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Yonkers, NVestchester county, New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gas-Engines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to gas-engines in which the piston is operated by the explosions of a mixture of air and gas introduced in successive charges; and my invention consists in constructing the engine as fully set forth hereinafter, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a longitudinal sectional elevation of a gas-engine constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is plan View;l Fig. 3, a longitudinal section of the cylinder; Fig. 4, a sectional plan on t-he line 4 4, Fig. 3; Fig. 5, a section on the line 5 5, Fig. 4; Fig. 6, a longitudinal section through the cylinder, showing a modification; Fig. 7, a sectional plan on the line 7 7, Fig. 6.

The cylinder A is supported upon the bed, and the piston B is connected by the pistonrod and connecting-rod with the crank of a shaft C. A hollow casing D below the cylinder is divided bya partition 3 into two chambers and y, communicating near their forward end,the chamber :n communicating' with an air-inlet port 4, to which leads a pipe 5, having a valve-casing 7 and inlet-valve 6 at the outer end, and a port 8 leads from the chamber to the forward end of the cylinder.

At the rear end of the cylinder is a port 9, passage to which is closed and opened by a valve lO above a valve-casing l2, which conimunicates with the chamber 0c through a passage 13, Figs. 3 and 4, with which passage also communicates the rear end of the chambery. Gas is admitted to the rear end of the chamber y through a port 42 and gas-pipe 14, provided with a cock l5 and check-valve 16.

The cylinderA is provided with an exhaustport 44 at the lower side near the center, and the extension 17 of the piston is of such a length as to cover this port when the piston is at the end of its rearward movement, and an annular space w around the piston permits any gases leaking round the piston to escape to the exhaust instead of finding their way to the forward end of the cylinder.

The cylinder is provided with a suitable ignitor at the rear end, as will be hereinafter more fully described. Vhen the piston moves to the rear, the air will be drawn into the forward or pump end of the cylinder through the, casing '7, pipe 5, and ports 4 and 8, and a smaller quantity of gas (determined by the position of the cock l5) will be drawn by the 6o same action of the piston into the rear end of the chamber y. As the piston moves forward, the air will be expelled from the pump end of the cylinder into the chambers @c and y, the greater portion passing along the chamber :o and passage 13 to the valve-casing 12, and asmaller portion carrying with it the gas from the chamber g/ into the casing l2, and from the latter the mixed air and gas, now forming an explosive mixture, passes 7o through the port 9 into the rear end of the cylinder, Where it is exploded as the piston reaches its rear position. By thus drawing in regular but separated quantities of air and gas and keeping them separated until the 7 5 charge is needed, and then thoroughly mixing them on their way to the cylinder, prmature explosions, liable to result when a mixture is stored for anytime, are absolutely prevented. lDifferent arrangements of chambers 8o may be employed, into which the air and gas are drawn separately and from which they are expelled and brought together on their Way to the cylinder, all by the action of the piston B Without intervening valves.

To further regulate the quantity of gas,

there may be a restricted opening or passage 18 and valve 19, regulating it, so as to determine the volume of the non-explosive mixture of air and gas that passes from the cham- 9o ber y to the casing l2. As the gas is drawn into the chamber y, on the rearward movement of the piston, ithas time, before being forced into the cylinder, to mix with a portion of air, but in su ch great relative proportions that the explosive mixture is not produced until an additional volume of air is combined therewith on the passage to the cylinder. The gas, however,

is never drawn forward past the end of the partit-ion into the chamber After the Ioo explosion takes place the piston is moved forward and finally uncovers the exhaust, when the spent gases will escape, and the pressure in the cylinder will be so reduced that the gases from the easing D will lift the valve lO and allow a new charge to enter the cylinder, after which the piston will move back and compress this charge, and the same will then be exploded and again move forward the piston, as before.

It will be evident that the air and gas chambers, communicating at one end freely with the pump and with each other and both at the other ends with a passage leadi ng to the cylinder, may be differently arranged from those above described without departing from the main features of my invention. Thus in Figs. G and the casing D is divided by a transverse vertical partition (30 and between the latter and the rear end by a transverse horizontal platform filY into two chambers w y', the chamber fr being below the chamber y and communicating with air-chamber a?, while the upper chamber y communicates with the chamber j1/, and the gas inlet or port 2 opens into the chamber y. The chamber 7]' communicates with an annular port G2, (or series of ports arranged in a circle,) inelosin g the central port 03,which communicates with the air-chamber 0r', and the valve l0 covers both the air-port and the air and gas port. As the mixture in the chamber y or y has such a surplus of as not to be explosive, the explosive mixture cannot be formed until the valve l0 is raised and the contents of both chambers pass into the passage 9. The mixture of too great an amount of air with the gas in the chamber f l/ or y y may be prevented by contracting the latter toward the rear. One means (shown in Figs. (i and 7) consists in placingapartitiou (3G parallel to the partition To prevent the charge from flowing from the port 9 direct to the exhaust-port, a plate 49 is suspended in the cylinder directly in the line of the infiowing gases. The extent to which the valve 10 rises determines the volume of the charge, and the force of the eXplosion is in proportion to this volume, and the volumes are varied by the movements of a wedge E, which is interposed between the casing land a nut 2O carried by the valvestem 21.

The wedge carried by a lever 22, to which is connected a rod 23, that is moved longitudinally by a governor F, so as to withdraw the wedge and permit the valve l0 to risc farther and increase the charge when the speed ofthe engine descreases, and to push in the wedge further limit the lift of the valve and decrease the charge whenl the speed increases.

The governor may be of any suitable character, so as to move back the rod 23 when the speed increases and move it forward when the speed decreases.

The charge may be ignited by au electric spark from a dynamo moved by the engine, or by a tiame-ignitor of ordinary construction.

In the drawings I have shown a form of ignitor which need not be here described, as it forms the subject of a separate application for Letters Patent, Serial No. 28,2l i, filed August 30, 1888.

I do not claim the mode described of supplying charges to the cylinder, as this constitutes the subject of a separate application for Letters Patent, Serial No. 287,623, iiled October S), 1888.

lithout limiting myself to thcprecise construction and arrangement of parts shown, I claiml. The combination, with the biking-cylinder, inlet-port, and air-pump of a gas-engine, of two chambers communicating with the air-pump and with an air-inlet port, one chamber communicating near its rear end with a gas-supply pipe and both communicating at their rear ends with the passage leading lo the cylinder, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with the cylinder of a gas-engine having an inlet-port at the rear and air-port at the front, of two chambers communicating with said air-port at the front ends and each communicating imlependently with the said inlet-port at the rear end, and one of said chambers communicating also with the gas-inlet pipe, substantially as set forth.

The combination, with the cylinder, piston, and ports of a gas-engine, of a casing containing two chambers communicating with each other at the front ends, and with an air-inlet port at the front and independently at the rear ends with the charge inletport of the cylinder, and a gas-pipe provided with a cheek-valve communicating with one of said chambers, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination, with the cylinder, piston, and ports of a gas-engine, of a casing previded with a partition partially dividing the easing, an air-inlet port, a gas-inlet port communicating with the casing at one side ofthe partition, and a connnunication between the rea-r ends of the chambers on each side of the casing and the inlet-port of the cylinder, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination, with the pump of a gas-engine, of a casing communicating with the pump and with an air-inlet port at one end partially divided into two communicating chambers, a gas-pipe leading to one of the chambers, a connmlnication between each chamber, and a passage leading to the workin g-cylin der ol the engine, substantially as set forth.

G. The combination, with the cylinder, piston, and ports of a gas-engine, of a casing provided with two chambers side by side, each communicating with the other at one end and at the other with a passage leading to the cylinder, and a gas-pipe connecting with one of the chambers near the end adja- IOD' In testimony whereof I have si gned 1n y name I o to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

CYRUS W. BALDWIN.

Witnesses:

WM. H. SWENY, JOHN C. HARRIGAN. 

